So I had ball pythons when I was younger and decided to start the hobby again. I love my ball python, but now that I’m older and less fearful, I really want something a little bit bigger. But I also don’t want anything 14ft long either. I’ve been looking into boas and (if I understand correctly) BCIs would be my best bet. Is that right?
It also seems that (outside of a bigger enclosure) their husbandry is fairly close to a ball python in terms of heat and humidity. I just really want to make sure I’m 1000% informed before I get an animal that I might be uneasy caring for. I love how they look and something 8-10ft seems manageable to me.
I think you are good to go on a boa!
If you are looking at morph type boas, they are mostly BCI (or BI), but from what I understand your locality specific True Red Tail boas are just about the same size on average.
So, if you were possibly thinking of those, don’t just count them out because they’re BCC.
I only have baby Surinams, so can’t speak from the first hand yet. lol
If your good with a 6 to 8 FT boa, you can just about count any boa you want.
Boas are imo the best pet reptiles. They’re personable, interesting animals. The variability in localities and morphs can likely fit just about any desire someone is looking for.
I have Balls and Boas and without a doubt Boas are the better pet in my experience. They are calmer and seem to tolerate long periods of being handled better than BPs. There seems to be less desire to wriggle away and escape in boas, which makes taking pictures of them a lot easier.
There isn’t quite the same possibilities available yet to create some of the amazing patterns seen in BPs in boas but there is still a quite strong morph game that can only get stronger in the future.
They are fairly similar husbandry wise, though boas can tolerate a wider heat and humidity range, though only slightly.
Meal wise, boas can become more expensive to feed but buying in bulk will ease that. They are also dumpsters, they will eat whenever you offer food, which makes it dangerously easier to overfeed them.
Boas are awesome. From all the snake species to keep, they are my second favorite and the one I wish I still had in my collection.
They are easy tempered, eat anything you offer, and love to be handled from my experiences. When I say love to be handled, I don’t necessarily mean love, they just seem to enjoy being out of their enclosure more than a ball would for instance.
But if you aren’t afraid of a snake that can reach 8-10ft like you mentioned. I would look into reticulated pythons. A male retic if fed properly won’t get much larger than that. They are insanely smart and I think make a connection to their handler more than any other snake I’ve worked with and owned. They too will eat anything, and are a very rewarding species to keep.
But if you don’t have large snake experience, I would start with a boa first. Retics are demanding of time, and require significant work every day.
Thanks I appreciate all the info. I think I am pretty well headed into becoming a boa-dad! I really do love them and have already been looking at some large PVC enclosures for when it is fully grown. I absolutely love snakes, but think I should get some more experience with something similar to a BP before I go the retic route. You may soon see a post that I’m getting one of those as well!! lol
Well…I went to a local expo fully intending on looking at boas and accidently fell in love with this girl right here. Stupid green eyes lol…I’m a sucker for green eyes! I guess the boa hunt is still on!!
Well…6 ball pythons later and I think I’ve finally committed to a boa! I think I have one picked and am just waiting to hear back from the breeder. I decided to go with a BC/BCC Suriname Redtail. I am only looking at males since they typically don’t get as large as females, but I am beyond excited. Hopefully the next update from me will be pictures of my new boa!!!
Next tank I buy is going to be PVC as well. I’m planning on going with the largest Boaphile Plastics option available. Right now she’s a year old and in a 40 gallon tank (I already had it laying around), I think I might be able to get another year out of the tank before I upgrade her.
I figure no point in buying a bunch of tanks and slowly upgrading, might as well just make one investment instead of 5… may have to find something different for bedding though since she likes to burrow and digging through 16 feet of tank to find her seems really unfun.
You should be able to get her a fair amount of the way to full grown in the 40 breeder. They have a pretty good footprint so they can accommodate a mid sized snake.
What size Boaphile are you thinking you are going to go with? I haven’t looked at what sizes he offers in a long time.
Thinking of going with the 8’x2’x2’ that’s the biggest option available. She’s a BCI and I’d definitely like her to have enough room to stretch out fully if she wants. I’ll have to figure out where to put this huge tank, I have the space but there are several places it could go.
lol
